Lakewell develops, manufactures and markets premium quality interior components for classic cars. Our handcrafted products are among the best available for originality and fit.

Our mission is to match the Original Equipment Manufacturer specifications in all our parts. We go great lengths to source the correct raw materials. We have researched original cutting, sewing, pressing and molding procedures to ensure factory authentic craftsmanship. We have a passion for efficiency and lean make-to-order manufacturing. We challenge everything we do on the direct value it adds to our products and customers. This is the foundation on which we provide the best price quality offer in the market .

Our facilities

We manufacture our interior components in Boutersem, Belgium (15 minutes East of Brussels). We are located in large restored 18th century square farm house. The different parts of the building are dedicated to the various manufacturing activities required to make our interiors. Consistent with our environment, we use traditional production techniques, but apply modern lean manufacturing principles.

As a result of significant product development investments, we have a wide range of production templates. These templates permit to cut materials to exact OEM tolerances and guarantee a factory authentic fit of our products. Our dedicated cutting facility also serves to produce door panels, seat foams and other interior support materials to precision.

We have a range of special sewing machines to cover the different operations required to manufacture our interior components to correct specification. We are especially proud of some of the custom alterations we have made to our machines to increase productivity levels for certain complicated operations.

We have an in house molding and casting facility. This allows us to reproduce hard to find plastic and rubber parts in small series.

Our history

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2021

At the age of 10, Wouter would join his father Maurice every Saturday to look at the progress on the restoration of a Citroën DS23 Pallas. The car was tucked away in a Citroën dealership. The dust, the smell and technobabble made a lasting impression.

A few years later, at the age of 15, Wouter bought an old Citroen 2CV with money he saved up from washing cars. Without a driver’s license, he begged his mom to drive the car home; on flat tires, without insurance and without MoT. His mom ever supportive. 3 months later he had turned this tired duckling into a beautiful swan.

Jumped head first and completely underequipped into a ground-up restoration of a VW Beetle Cabriolet. After friends lost interest in the project, this became a 2000 hour lesson in perseverance. In the years thereafter several projects would follow including mostly Porsche and Jaguar cars but also the odd BMW, TVR and Ferrari.

Driven by the patchy availability of high quality interior parts, a move was made to start producing a small selection of interior components.

In true start-up style, initially this work was done out of the home garage. As the manufacturing capabilities grew, so did the demand from fellow restoration enthusiasts and professionals. Our first employee, Robin was hired.

The acquisition of a beautiful landmark farm house in 2003 permitted to step change activities and further expand the product portfolio; from selected products for English and German cars towards complete interiors for several of the world’s greatest collector cars.

Launch of the Lakewell.com website and development of a reseller network. This was a big step up from selling through eBay and word of mouth. We currently sell our products directly to private and professional restorers and through a network of distributors worldwide.

Before 3D printing became mainstream, our team experimented with additive manufacturing as a potential solution for manufacturing spare parts in small series. This broadened the product portfolio into hard-to-find plastic, rubber and alloy parts.

Together with his son Sebastian, the effort was made to digitize our collection of more than 1000 hardboard patterns. This enabled the move from manual to automated cutting which means higher-quality work for our craftsmen, higher precision and less waste.

Lakewell moves into the south wing of the Castle of Veulen, after 4 years of restoration. This unique heritage site offers room for further growth and is the perfect setting for the ultimate experience in classic car events.

More information on the Castle of Veulen.

Our quality

Quality is one of our core values and we strongly believe it is the only path to sustainable customer satisfaction. To achieve this we have committed ourselves to the following:

Strive to match Original Equipment Manufacturer specifications in all our parts
Provide the best value for the money in our niche
Understand and respond to our customers’ needs and expectations
Improve our lean make-to-order manufacturing to generate continuing quality and productivity improvements
Develop factory authentic craftsmanship and motivated craftsman with full accountability and responsibility
Continually improving on all of the above

Please use the navigation area on the left to find out more about the materials we use, the colors we offer and our satisfaction guarantee.

The materials we use

Our mission is to match the Original Equipment Manufacturer specifications in our parts as close as possible. We go to great lengths to source the correct raw materials.

Where we were unable to source the OEM specification material we manufacture the raw material ourselves. Only when this is not possible we work with the best available alternative. Parts that do not meet OEM specification are identified as “functional replacement”.

We strongly recommend you request material samples from us and other manufacturers before ordering. This allows you to compare the quality, authenticity and price before ordering. We also recommend comparing the content of our Interior Restoration Kit with others.

Leather and matching leathercloth

To manufacture our interiors, we use the finest Scottish and Italian hides available in various grains. All hides are precision cut, piping bound and pre-formed to guarantee a factory authentic fit. Depending on make and model we can also offer various leather perforations.

For half hide interiors in the most prevalent colors, we have color coded vinyl matching the leather in color, gloss and grain.

Please bear in mind that leather is a natural material. Slight irregularities are not imperfections. They are an inherent feature of a product from nature and an integral part of its appeal.

Fasteners, fittings, adhesives and yarns

Virtually all our parts have OEM specification fasteners and fittings, in most cases obtained from the original OEM tier 1 or 2 suppliers. We have over 100 fasteners and fitting references in stock.

Adhesives are one of the most underrated consumables in the manufacturing of interiors. Nothing is more frustrating than a perfect interior that starts to come apart after a hot summer. The durability of your interior in large part depends on use of the correct fasteners, fittings and adhesives. Unlike some of our peers, we do not use 1 but 4 different kinds of glue to respond to the type materials to be joined and the thermal exposure of the installed parts.

Yarns is one area we often do not follow OEM specification and for good reason. Many upholstery parts of cars in the 50s, 60s and 70s were stitched with cotton yarns. These do not resist humidity well and will disintegrate over time. This is especially troublesome for soft tops and door panels that tend to be exposed to humidity more often. We use top quality chemically bonded polyester yarns for high durability of all trim parts.

Carpet and carpet backing materials

Our legacy and historic strength is in the production of complete carpet sets. We carry over 80 different carpet materials and colors.

For classic Porsches we remanufacture some of the original hard to find materials such as Haargarn and Sliver knit velour. For Mercedes and BMW models we carry the fine tufted velours, loop pile and even some New Old Stock Square weave pile carpets. For Jaguar and Daimler models we use a high quality velours made from a wool/nylon blend. This is similar in appearance but not identical to the original Wilton.

We pay careful attention to the backing material used in our carpet sets: natural jute, rubber coated patterned jute and natural rubber and the most prevalent original backing materials.

All our carpet sets have edge binding, buttons and integrated reinforcement in all the original places. Even the original molded heel pads are reproduced to exact standards in our rubber molding and casting facility.

Seat cushions and paneling foams

Our seat foams are molded to the original contours. We use high quality closed cell foams in varying densities to match the feel, function and comfort of the original seat foams. Mercedes foams for instance tend to be the hardest in the business compared to Jaguar foams which tends to offer the softest comfort.

Paneling foams are made from high-density PU, PE and latex foams as appropriate. They are pre cut and integrated in our ready-to-install panels.

Small plastic and rubber parts

We are very proud of our in-house molding and casting capability. This permits us to reproduce small rubber and plastic parts to original specification in small quantities. In this facility we manufacture original specification heelpads, door handles and knobs when good quality parts can no longer be sourced.

Interior support materials and panels

The crisp look and durability of your interior is crucially dependent on the use of appropriate interior support materials.

We exclusively use high quality interior support materials. Examples are heavy calico backing material for seat covers, natural rubber, natural jute and piping cord in various materials. For our door panels we only use water resistant or bitumated hardboard.

The colors we offer

We manufacture our interior components in the most common original colors. In the “Products” section you can browse to the list of parts available for your make and model. Each individual item will specify and usually picture the colors in which it can be ordered.

If you are not sure about your color please do not hesitate to request a sample from us. If you are looking for a color not listed in our web shop or a custom color, do not hesitate send us a mail or material sample. We have access to over 800 material references and we love a challenge.

Because we manufacture everything to order we can also make your interior with contrasting piping. This is usually not factory original, but in combination with the color of your bodywork or soft top this can be very stylish and definitely adds that touch of individuality.

Michael

Great Britain

Very knowledgeable and helpful staff Very high quality products, exactly as advertised (bought carpet set and retrim kits for front and rear seats) Happy to recommend and will use them again to complete my restoration.

Rated 5 out of 5

Carlos

Spain

Good staff and good quality of materials. Hard to tell difference to original biscuit Jag carpet set

Rated 5 out of 5

Andrew

Ireland

Superb job on the restoration of my Porsche 964 interior. The complete interior retrim was done to concourse standards. The bespoke 'Singer style' touches I requested were done very tastefully with and unbelievable eye for detail All I can say is WOW and thank you. Coming from a perfectionist that means something. Cannot wait to do another one.

Rated 5 out of 5

Mike

USA

I've been a Porsche collector for more than 20 years. Lakewell has always been my go-to-place for everything interior. Top-notch craftsmanship and OEM spec materials. Also for hard to find / NLA parts, a real treasure chest. Highly recommended.

Rated 5 out of 5

About Us

Our facilities

Our history

Our quality

The materials we use​

The colors we offer​

The materials we use

The colors we offer